c.1810-20 Georgian Foiled Amethyst Earrings

A pair of c. 1810-20 Georgian foiled amethyst pendant earrings, crafted in an archetypal Regency manner with cut-down collets and closed convex backs in 12k rose gold, each earring with five gem elements in a chain-dangle arrangement. Measuring over 60 mm per pendant, these earrings are large and make a bold statement when worn. While earring design of the 18th c was heavily influenced by the pendeloque-girandole binary, the early 19th c saw greater variation in the shapes and types of earrings made, though the present pair is arguably a variation on the girandole form due to its hanging three-element drop. A pair of early 19th c earrings illustrated on p. 81 of Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830 by Ginny Redington Dawes with Olivia Collings, though French made and more elongated in shape, is essentially the same form with a single gem collet head supporting a dangling three-gem pendant and a hanging central element. It is however more common to find foiled gem earrings from this period as a simple two-stone pendeloque, such as the c.1820 amethyst earrings illustrated on p. 41 from the same book. Like many Georgian foiled jewels, the present amethysts have been color foiled in a deeper hue, lending the stones a wistful two-toned glow. These foiled and closed back collet-set gems form a defining look for the c.1800-1820 period, made especially famous by the colorful rivière necklaces, and can be understood as a continuation and refinement of earlier foiled jewelry such as ‘Queen Anne’ paste and vauxhall glass (for example, set in gold instead of toothed brass settings). The discovery of gemstone deposits in Brazil supplied European jewelers with color stones in large sizes that were previously economically sensible only in paste; this gem supply was made more available to the British market by the early 19th c due to increased English leasing of Brazilian mines and a strong British-Portuguese alliance during the Napoleonic years.
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